News Summary: Bangladesh factory flaws highlighted

Building inspections in wake of Bangladesh disaster show other factories at risk

FACTORY FLAWS: Bangladeshi garment factories are routinely built without consulting engineers. Many are in commercial or residential buildings not designed to withstand heavy manufacturing. Some add illegal extra floors, according to a survey of scores of factories by an engineering university.

OTHER INSPECTIONS: A separate inspection, by the garment industry, of 200 risky factories found that 10 percent of them were so dangerous that they were ordered to shut. The textiles minister said a third inspection, conducted by the government, could show that as many as 300 factories were unsafe.

DEADLY DISASTERS: a November fire at the Tazreen Fashions Ltd. factory killed 112 people and the April collapse of the Rana Plaza building killed 1,129 people.